Policy Matters Ohio

Next Friday (6/14)! If you are unable to attend in-person, the livestream will be available beginning at 12:00pm: https://lnkd.in/eqPd8aeD

Michael Shields, an economist with Policy Matters Ohio, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss efforts to get a minimum wage amendment on the November ballot and how raising the minimum wage would assist workers in Ohio. https://bit.ly/4dSmyNw

🎉 SPONSOR HEARING 🎉 HB 384, a.k.a. the Ohio bill that caps the co-pay cost of insulin at $35/month and diabetes devices at $100/month, has a sponsor hearing this Wednesday, 5/22/2024 at 10AM! Advocates from the Ohio Chapter of T1International called on Ohio lawmakers to have a hearing on this bill at the Affordable Insulin Press Conference on 3/26/2024 and we were successful! Check out coverage from the Press Conference here: https://lnkd.in/gCs76hiR While this is just the 1st Hearing where only the Sponsors present testimony, now is the time to prepare for next steps: 1️⃣ Start writing your proponent testimony explaining why affordable insulin and diabetes devices is needed for all Ohioans. Need to learn more about it? Review this great blog post by Kathryn Poe at Policy Matters Ohio about insulin price gouging: https://lnkd.in/gxkw52TQ 2️⃣ Call/write/email/visit with every member of the House Insurance Committee and explain why they need to hold more hearings on this critical bill. You can find Committee members here: https://lnkd.in/g7vPUjuX 3️⃣ Be sure to connect with me here on LinkedIn to receive updates on this critical legislation! Or, if you want to get involved with advocates, please reach out directly via DM on LinkedIn or email me at [email protected]. #insulin4all #insulin #affordableinsulin #accessibleinsulin #diabetes #type1diabetes #type1 #T1D #type2diabetes #type2 #T2D

Of the 10 most common jobs in #Ohio, four pay wages so low that workers can qualify for food stamps. That's according to a study from Policy Matters Ohio. We break it down here: https://lnkd.in/eGCyJ5jH #SignalCleveland #OhioJobs #FoodStamps

Yesterday, hundreds of Ohio childcare providers, parents, and children gathered at the Statehouse demanding that legislators invest in the state's childcare system, and we were so proud to join them! "Our labor force is stronger when parents can go to work knowing their kids are cared for. When childcare providers can afford to hire and retain skilled staff, they can keep our children safe and give each child the attention they deserve. Everyone benefits when childcare workers — who are disproportionately women and disproportionately Black — can afford high-quality care for their own kids. To get childcare right, Ohio leaders need to balance the needs of those three groups — parents, providers and workers. For too long, policymakers have gotten it wrong, and the littlest Ohioans suffer the consequences." -Ohio's Childcare Crisis, Kathryn Poe & Ali Smith https://lnkd.in/eHcu7TSa

A HUGE THANK YOU to Kathryn Poe at Policy Matters Ohio for this critical blog post about insulin price gouging and for sharing Dylan's story 💙 #insulin4all #insulin #diabetes #type1 #type1diabetes #t1d #type2 #type2diabetes #t2d #policy #advocacy

JUST RELEASED: State legislators have driven Ohio’s child care system into crisis, according to our latest report. The state makes it more difficult than any other for parents to qualify for Publicly Funded Child Care (PFCC) and reimburses PFCC providers so poorly that the federal government had to step in to demand policy changes. As a result, too few providers can afford to stay open and too few families can access affordable child care. Read the full report, including our policy recommendations:

A federal tax break meant to drive investment to ignored places appears to be failing in Ohio, where an add-on state subsidy let us analyze the otherwise opaque Opportunity Zones. We found projects went mostly to on-the-up metro areas and college towns. Here is some of what authors Anya Gizis and Wiktoria Rutkowska found: 🔴 The investments are concentrated in a small number of urban areas, mainly Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati. Indeed, just five cities received 88% of the dollars invested. 🔴 OZs in rural and Appalachian Ohio received almost no investments. 🔴 OZs that have received investments tend to have gentrifying characteristics — becoming whiter and richer. 🔴 Almost 16% of the money invested has been within one mile of a college. College towns often qualified as an OZ because big student populations drove down the average wage. Although there is currently federal legislation looking to extend and expand the program, we recommend that the program be allowed to sunset in 2026. Extra transparency won't help the structural problems of a program off limits to essentially everyone but rich people and corporations, which have every incentive to choose the places with the highest ROI - places they would have invested in anyway. Thanks to Policy Matters Ohio for data and invaluable input. #OpportunityZones #EconomicDevelopment #TrumpTaxCuts #EconomicDevelopmentIncentives #EconomicDevelopmentSubsidies https://lnkd.in/gFiPp8ze

🚨THIS TUESDAY, 3/26🚨 Join advocates from the Ohio #insulin4all Chapter of T1International, Representative Munira Abdullahi, Representative Beth Liston, and Kathryn Poe from Policy Matters Ohio at our Affordable Insulin Press Conference at 10AM in the Ladies Gallery of the Ohio Statehouse. Ohioans need affordable insulin. And we need it now ✊ #insulin #affordableinsulin #healthcare #access #type1 #type1diabetes #diabetes #type2 #diabetic

Tickets to the 48th Cleveland International Film Festival are now on sale! More than 360 films are part of this year’s lineup, including our partnered film It's Basic. The documentary, screening at 7:40pm on 4/9/24, focuses on combating inequality through guaranteed basic income. You can also purchase tickets to stream the film the week following the festival! Use discount code POLICY to receive $1 off each ticket purchase! https://lnkd.in/eMuv6cbW